ABSTRACT
Gambling may range from being a recreational leisure activity to a behavioral addiction. A rising number of gamblers experience adverse consequences from gambling, termed problem gambling, which may become a challenge for the individual and society. With the present research, we aimed to investigate the correlates of problem gambling. We used a large sample of more than 12,500 individuals (46% male, Mage = 48, SDage = 18) from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and analyzed sociodemographic and personality variables (Big Five, locus of control) as well as the extent of problem gambling. Findings showed that male sex and a lower level of education were related to problem gambling, but personality traits were predictive of problem gambling over and above sociodemographic variables. Specifically, a low level of emotional stability, an external locus of control, and, to a lesser extent, a low level of conscientiousness and a high level of extraversion were predictive of problem gambling, whereas openness and agreeableness were not. These results remained constant across various robustness analyses. Our findings reveal the importance of including personality traits when explaining gambling behavior.
Subject(s)
Behavior, Addictive/physiopathology , Emotions/physiology , Gambling/epidemiology , Internal-External Control , Neuroticism , Personality Disorders/epidemiology , Adult , Australia/epidemiology , Female , Gambling/psychology , Humans , Male , Personality Disorders/psychology , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Video gaming is an extremely popular leisure-time activity with more than two billion users worldwide (Newzoo, 2017). However, the media as well as professionals have underscored the potential dangers of excessive video gaming. With the present research, we aimed to shed light on the relation between video gaming and gamers' psychological functioning. Questionnaires on personality and psychological health as well as video gaming habits were administered to 2,734 individuals (2,377 male, 357 female, M age = 23.06, SD age = 5.91). Results revealed a medium-sized negative correlation between problematic video gaming and psychological functioning with regard to psychological symptoms, affectivity, coping, and self-esteem. Moreover, gamers' reasons for playing and their preferred game genres were differentially related to psychological functioning with the most notable findings for distraction-motivated players as well as action game players. Future studies are needed to examine whether these psychological health risks reflect the causes or consequences of video gaming.